By Kanta Ishida / Yomiuri Shimbun Senior SpecialistThe manga this week
Kingdom
By Yasuhisa Hara (Shueisha)
The Chinese history book “Records of Three Kingdoms” is very popular in Japan, thanks primarily to a novel written by Eiji Yoshikawa based on “The Romance of Three Kingdoms,” a separate novelization of this Chinese history book.
And we must not forget the achievement of manga artist Mitsuteru Yokoyama, who wrote a 60-volume manga saga that was an interpretation of the novel by Yoshikawa. Manga certainly is the best medium to illustrate the daring heroes of ancient China, but unfortunately, it has mostly covered the period of the Three Kingdoms.
This week’s manga by Yasuhisa Hara is especially valuable, therefore, as it is set in the Spring and Autumn Period and the following Warring States Period, over 400 years before the Three Kingdoms. It also depicts the full nature of the first emperor of the Qin dynasty, an unprecedentedly challenging project.
Two boys — war orphan Shin, and Sei, the king of Qin who later becomes the first emperor of the Qin dynasty — form a close bond in spite of the difference in their upbringing. They later part company to fight their respective battles to make their dreams come true: Shin to become the strongest general in the world and Sei to take complete control of the palace to become the real king. Deep in his heart, Sei’s true goal is to become the first king to conquer and unify all of China, and to put an end to the 500 years of warring states.
The first emperor of the Qin dynasty is mentioned in several extant writings, including the “Records of the Grand Historian.” He is also known for his famous terracotta warriors excavated in Shaanxi Province in China. Much about him still remains a mystery, however. Hara combined historical investigative facts with his imagination to create a thrilling, action-packed world in “Kingdom.”
Tens of thousands of foot soldiers and horse soldiers clash on battlefields with enormous impact. A heroic sweep of a pike scatters the enemy in a flash of a lightning. Generals, be they ally or enemy, are as strong as monsters and also have very human personalities. Women are dignified, and even traitorous subjects who plot against the emperor are attractive.
It’s easy to understand why this manga, already an extra-long series with over 40 volumes, is so popular. Despite innumerable people dying, this manga manages to retain the cheerfulness of a boys’ manga, because the protagonist acts in keeping with the great moral cause of ending all wars. In volume 39, the worst villain, prime minister Ryo Fui, has a serious argument with Sei: Can people be happy even if they are conquered by military force? This is a theme that may affect the very fundamentals of the story, and this episode raised my opinion of Hara even further. He is strongly determined not to let his manga be just a war-based entertainment.
Ishida is a Yomiuri Shimbun senior specialist whose areas of expertise include manga and anime.
This is dummy text. It is not meant to be read. Accordingly, it is difficult to figure out when to end it. But then, this is dummy text. It is not meant to be read. Period.
ConversionConversion EmoticonEmoticon